The long-term warming trend has continued in 2018, with the average global temperature set to be the fourth highest on record. The 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, with the top four in the past four years, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Other tell-tale signs of climate change, including sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification and sea-ice and glacier melt continue, whilst extreme weather left a trail of devastation on all continents, according to the WMO provisional Statement on the State of the Climate in 2018. It includes details of...

A WMO International Workshop on the Global Review of Regional Climate Centre (RCC) Operations was held from 12 to 14 November in Pune, India, and hosted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).

Switzerland has announced a major contribution to an international initiative to strengthen early warning systems in vulnerable low-income countries to support climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. The announcement of 9 million Swiss francs in new funding came at the United Nations climate change conference in Katowice, Poland (COP24).

Fiji is to press ahead with an early warning system for floods. Experts, staff of the Fiji Meteorological Service and Disaster Management Office met in Nadi, Fiji from 12 to 16 November 2018, to discuss the implementation of the Flash Flood Guidance System (FFGS). The meeting discussed and developed a work plan for the implementation of FijiFFGS, a name chosen to ensure ownership of the project, and show that its applications are specifically targeting the islands of Fiji.

An initiative to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems in the Caribbean was launched on November 20 during the dry season Caribbean Climate Forum (CariCOF) meeting in Barbados. The Caribbean region is highly exposed to high-impact hydrometeorological hazards such as hurricanes and tropical storms, causing floods, landslides and storm surge. In 2017, Hurricane Irma caused massive destruction in Barbuda resulting in the subsequent full evacuation of the island while Hurricane Maria caused devastation Dominica. Barbados suffered from flooding as a result of Tropical Storm Kirk in...

Weather is a key factor determining the success of the Winter Games. The next Winter Olympic Games will take place from 4 to 20 February 2022, in the municipality of Beijing and the neighbouring Hebei province, in China. The Paralympic Games will follow a month later, from 4 to 13 March. The scheduling of the outdoor events for the Games will rely on very short-term forecasting and nowcasting.

The Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) enables vulnerable sectors and populations to better manage climate variability and adapt to climate change. How? By developing and incorporating science-based climate information into planning, policy and practice. The GFCS places the decision context and information needs of “users” at the centre of the design process.

The climate science community can play an important role in addressing public health challenges. Many human diseases and health conditions are sensitive to changes in temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind and other environmental conditions such as air and water quality. Climate information can thus be used as a sign of risk and to inform disease monitoring and health research. In some cases, it can be used to predict when and where disease outbreaks may occur, in relation to expected climate conditions.